John Wesley Johnson

At the age of fourteen, Johnson immigrated to the Oregon Territory with his family, arriving at Marysville in 1850.[1] On his journey, along the Oregon Trail, he drove a team of oxen and his mother and sister died.[1] At age seventeen he started his first formal education at the local public schools.[1] After graduating in 1856 he served as the first teacher and principal at Corvallis Academy, now known as Oregon State University.[2] To further his career, Johnson applied to Yale University but needed to borrow money to attend the prestigious school. At just 24, he set out by ship to the Eastern Seaboard,[1] through Panama to New York City. [1] Johnson graduated sixth out of his class of 100 at Yale.[1] ln 1862, he returned to Oregon and served as a teacher and administrator at McMinnville College (now Linfield College) from 1863–1867. He was eventually promoted to president. Later, Johnson was hired as principal of Portland High School.[3] After six years as principal at the high school he was then hired by the University of Oregon in 1873 as a professor of Latin.[1] On 26 July 1876, the University of Oregon Board of Regents met (immediately upon the state land board's official acceptance of Deady Hall) and elected Johnson president. Thomas Condon, Mary Spiller, and Mark Bailey were also elected to the faculty.[4]

During his tenure at the University, he taught Greek and Latin, and served not only as president, but as registrar, business officer, provost, dean of students, and secretary. His seventeen years as president saw great expansion of the University, including the construction of Villard Hall in 1886, and the dormitory (now Friendly Hall) in 1893. Throughout his tenure, he was a statewide advocate of the University, attempting to overcome Oregonians' objection to higher education.

In 1918, the Administration Building (completed in 1915) was renamed Johnson Hall in honor of John Wesley Johnson. In 1985, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

• Official History Site - at the University of Oregon President's Office]

• Sheldon, Henry D. (1940). History of University of Oregon. Portland, Oregon: Binfords & Mort.